Screen freeze-up

[swampfox26]

While trading the Emini futures, my screen freezes for time periods up to 30 - 60 seconds. During this time, there are no chart updates, and I cannot enter anything through the keyboard. It happens when transaction activity in the eminis gets very heavy, exactly when I need the charts the most.

Also the CPU Usage goes to 100%, and a second copy of the esignal application shows up in the Windows Task Manager. And I get a (Not Responding) message on the screen title line.

I am running Win XP, AMD 64 2.41GHz processor, 3Gbyte RAM. And I have cut my screen activity to almost no charts with no studies running.

Has anyone else had this type of problom and can anyone provide me with some ideas as to the cause and cure for this.

[ScottJ]

Hello,

Couple of basic questions. What version of eSignal are you running? How many monitors and what o/s?

Sounds like you've already done a few things to help isolate what might be causing the freezing, here's a good KB article to review for addt'l ideas.

Thanks.

[swampfox26]

Hi Scott

I am running eSig ver 10.6 and Windows XP media center edition Service Pack 3

Internet connection is 6Mb DSL

[ScottJ]

Thanks. Did any of those topics in the KB article ring any bells? Did you see freezing at all today?

Thanks.

[jgr]

I had a lot of problems with freezing on high tick rates. I did two things to improve things: The new version will fix this I am told.

Note: I run Windows 7 on 64 bit platforms.

First: I cut way down on the number of efs indictators I had running and also I cut down on the number of charts open. I leared from support that there is no multithreading on part of the core data processing section. That performance is degraded as the number of bars that must be updated on each tick increases. So keep the charts to as few bars and you really need.

Second: I finally gave up and upgraded my computer to an Intel i7-860 (clocks 3.3 GHz) on a gaiming motherboard, ASUS P7P55D Deluxe with 8 Gbyte of DDR3 ram that can run at 1600 mHz. This is now a 4 core CPU with 8 virtual cores. However still only one core does most of the data process in esignal at this time. But this thing is so fast that the one core keeps up. I don't see the freezing at least for more than a second or two and only occasionally.

[swampfox26]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I have tried most of your suggestions, but I still get freeze up when the tick rate gets high. And it is killing me trying to trade the emini futures.

I have 3 questions.

1. When I get the freeze, the title line on the page says (not responding). What part of the system is not responding? Is my software not responding to the esig server, or is my system waiting for a response from the server. My guess is I am waiting for a response from the server.

2. When the freeze happens, if I look at the Applications tab on the Windows Task Manager, I see two copies of eSignal Page software running. When the freeze clears up, the second copy is removed. Why does a second copy ever get started?

If someone could answer these two questions it may help finding the cause of my problems.

3. Has eSignal received similar complaints from other users?

Thanks,
Bob

[mike_scott]

Bob, most of us have performance issues with freezing displays and all of the problems you note. The issue is that your eSignal applicaton is not keeping up with the tick rate. Your choices are a much faster computer, wait for the new eSignal 11.0, reduce the number of charts and efs studies or go somewhere else.

I write a lot of efs scripts. I have to pay a lot of attention to performance. What really brings eSignal down quickly is looking at a very high volume symbol such as SPY or the ES (eMini S&P).

I am now shopping for a new faster i7 processor computer.

Mike Scott
Tarzana, CA

Originally posted by swampfogx26
Thanks for the responses, guys. I have tried most of your suggestions, but I still get freeze up when the tick rate gets high. And it is killing me trying to trade the emini futures.

I have 3 questions.

1. When I get the freeze, the title line on the page says (not responding). What part of the system is not responding? Is my software not responding to the esig server, or is my system waiting for a response from the server. My guess is I am waiting for a response from the server.

2. When the freeze happens, if I look at the Applications tab on the Windows Task Manager, I see two copies of eSignal Page software running. When the freeze clears up, the second copy is removed. Why does a second copy ever get started?

If someone could answer these two questions it may help finding the cause of my problems.

3. Has eSignal received similar complaints from other users?

Thanks,
Bob